When in Rome, do as the Romans do

Less than a year ago the English team reached the Indian shores with a strategy that was put in place to beat the home team in their own game. Traditionally the dust bowls aided spin bowlers and it was going to be no different even now. For quite a long time, the English held a hardheaded approach when it came to picking players. That said, they did not have a world class spinner in their line up through the 90s and 00s.

The fast bowlers who would relish swinging conditions under cloud cover on a green top found themselves in extremely hot conditions where reverse swing happens on hard and flat wickets! This time though, they were ready with their stocks. They would go with two spinners and two fast bowlers - a theory seldom followed. The fast bowlers would wait for the ball to reverse swing. The spinners would impart lot of revolutions on the ball. That both of them in Panesar and Swann were finger-spinners meant that they were going with the blue print for triumph in Indian conditions.

The batsmen would grind all day. Cook, Bell, Trott and even Compton, playing in his first test series, displayed conspicuous patience to score the runs. They realized attritional cricket was their way to succeed in India.

Earlier last week the West Indies A team which took on India A at Mysore went with a staggeringly similar approach. No wonder their tactic worked and it showed with the eventual result - Win by 162 runs.

After the end of the first day, Parvez Rasool said that the pitch was expected to help the seamers much more than the spinners. At least, that was the word which was going around it seems. Shami Ahmed also echoed the same sentiments. He said, "I'd heard a lot about the Mysore pitch, about how it has good bounce and how pace bowlers have a good time. After we reached Mysore, we hardly got a look at the pitch because of the rains, so we went by what we had been told and picked three medium pacers in the team. But this has nothing for pacers."

Pujara said that he misread the pitch after the loss. Hindsight is a wonderful thing to possess. But what matters most is the decision taken to seize the moment. The West Indies are a traditionally fast bowler-reliant side. They stick to their fast bowlers to make the breakthroughs even in the subcontinent. However, with flatter wickets back in the Caribbean, there is offer for the spinners to grow too. While Barbados remains quick even today, the other tracks around the islands have changed color.

Wrecker-in-chief # 1 : Veerasammy Permaul. Permaul has been among the most promising talents to have emerged in Caribbean in the recent past. He made a very big impression when India A toured West Indies last year.

Wrecker-in-chief # 2 : Nikita Miller. Miller has incredible first class average of 15.50 runs per wicket. While he isn't the youngest around, Miller knows his art very well. The two combined well at Mysore to register an important win for the tourists.

The West Indian batsmen showed a lot of character. Asad Fudadin, stood out with his patient innings. At the end of day one, Fudadin remained not out on 4 off 65 balls. He ground the opposition with support from the lower order - the same theory followed by Cook and co. last year.

The Caribbean spinners bowled 66 of the 96 overs in India 'A''s first innings. Right after the tea break on 2nd day, Delorn Johnson was given a long break with the spinners holding on to one end while Miguel Cummins kept attacking at the other end.

The field set for Cummins was another interesting plot in the script. Cummins hardly tried to bowl bouncers at the Indian batsmen. He bowled with a fine-leg alright, but also went with a single slip for most part of his spell. Full length was the modus operandi with a short-cover, short mid-off and short mid-on in place. Cheteshwar Pujara was trapped with this field set in the first innings. This was another example of how well the tourists assessed the pitch conditions in Mysore.

Once again in the second innings on the final day, Kirk Edwards chose to act like an Indian captain. Cummins and Johnson bowled only 9 overs between them throughout the day as the spin trio of Miller, Permaul and Deonarine attacked with close-in-fielders all the time.

The spinners picked 19 of the 20 Indian wickets in the test. That suggested how well, the plan worked for West Indies 'A'. On the contrary, it was surprising to see the Indians committed mistakes at alarming intervals.

Pujara accepted that the choice to bowl first backfired as he had gone by what people had told him about the wicket. They went with three fast bowlers and a lone spinner. While that was about selections and choices off the field, India 'A' didn't quite show the resolve to fight out on the final day. Manpreet Juneja stood tall amidst the ruins. There was a visible difference in the attitude showed by him and other batsmen around, including Pujara.

Juneja waited for the right balls to defend while the others chose to defend it all. On a turning pitch, it becomes a very risky affair if a batsman has to play out over after over without rotating the strike. That approach led to the downfall of the hosts. As the wickets started to fall, even he had to change gears, which was understandable.

The wicket at Glades seldom offers anything for the fast bowlers. If ever Pujara and co. heard something good for the fast bowlers at Glades, it has to be the story of the Ranji Final in 2010 that happened in this venue. 34 of the 40 wickets were picked by the fast bowlers and the game ended by the 4th evening itself. The spinners picked only 4 wickets in 4 innings in that game.

That was an exceptional case in the history of Gangotri Glades. Much like most other venues in India, Glades offers a flat surface without much in it for the fast bowlers. The local fast bowlers, who play league cricket regularly, would dread to bowl on the wicket here. There was a Ranji match played out in the ground last year between Vidarbha and Karnataka. Karnataka declared after scoring 619 while Vidarbha scored 447 runs in 163.2 overs. The game ended in a dull draw.

At the end of the test match, you could realize how much decisions such as toss and team selection influenced the eventual result. The scene shifts to Shimoga and I am not sure who would advise about the wicket there. Whatever said and done, Pujara would think twice before taking a final call on - picking three fast bowlers and choosing to bowl once again.